Archive for Wisdom

Although people are used to the front office of the Kansas City Royals being on the cutting edge of, well, pretty much everything, it was still a bit of a surprise to read that they going to take entries from the “social media” to have the chance to interview General Manager Dayton Moore and a few others during the Royals’ Annual FanFest. The winners were announced last week, and it was nice to see that a fair number of respected members of the Royals’ Nerdosphere were invited.

If you ask me, even more exciting than the list people asking the questions is the list of people said to be answering them. Dayton Moore is one of them, of course, as is manager Ned Yost. But there were also a couple of players. One of them is probably the only Royals position player who could be considered close to being something like a “star,” Billy Butler. The other player picked to be part of this interview (conducted, remember, by a group of people generally considered to play close attention to non-superficial stats, who prefer performance over reputation, who don’t just buy the team’s fluff stories) will be…

…and this is not a joke….

Jeff Francouer.

No, I am not kidding.

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Dig:

Contrary to appearances, a reanimated Highpockets Kelly did not punch his way out of the grave and find the nearest diamond. That’s actually Arnie Beyerler, new manager of the Pawtucket Red Sox.

I don’t know much about his dugout chops, but Mr. Beyerler certainly has central-casting appeal: the fully germinated mustache, the plunging sleeves, the exposed socks, the weapons-grade leather belt that seems better suited for determined Catholic spankings rather than holding up a man’s trousers, the stevedore’s jawline, the vaguely menacing “hunter-gatherer” way in which he carries the bat … He seems like a man who knows a thing or two about a thing or two but won’t tell you about any of it.

From this point forward, he shall be known as … “Blast Furnace O’Dwyer.”

Ol’ Blast Furnace may never win a World Series, but I fully expect him to take back the streets in his spare time.

(Curtsy: Heard It From Hoard)

*It’s come to my attention that what’s below is a semi-irregular feature over at the inimitable Walkoff Walk. That’s a great website — who doesn’t like Shrimp? And this is a good idea. So I’ve taken the reigns this week.

No, your eyes are not deceiving you. Yes, that is a Twitter Fail Whale cake pictured above. Just when you thought you’d seen it all, you’re reminded why you read NotGraphs.

Twitter. A window, 140 characters small, into the life — no, the soul — of a Major League Baseball player. What wisdom, over the past seven days, have the 124 current and former baseball players, according to Tweeting-Athletes.com, imparted on the masses, now that they’ve taken to the tweets?

Well, that’s what we’re about to find out. Without further adieu, I present: The MLB Tweets of the Week …

First up, Carl Crawford, @CarlCrawford_. After signing his mammoth contract with the Boston Red Sox, Crawford took to Twitter to answer the question of all of us had on our minds:

Yes for those asking, I am going to open a bookstore. Details to come

Is it weird that I want to manage Crawford’s book store? I think it’s kind of weird.

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In the event that you’re unaware, side-arming Brave Peter Moylan has a blog. To say that it (i.e. the blog) represents a “literary achievement” would be an overstatement. To say that his most recent post, however — in which he documents his transition from Twins farmhand to weekend-leaguer to actual Major Leaguer — to say that it “contains wisdom” would be entirely accurate.

Specifically, it’s this line I’m talking about:

Nobody from Australia gets a second chance.

If you’re not immediately roused, try saying it aloud in the voice of Cobra Kai sensei John Kreese. That might work.

In any case, I don’t know if it’s true, this thing about Australians. But it seems true.

H/T: Talking Chop